Lifting the Curse on the Lost Ground
by AmenziliaPoppy
Summary: [KazumaxOC, RyuhouxOC] Kiriko Katomisha was a young alter user who had grown up in the Lost Ground but longed for something better, something to cure her everlasting boredom. June had grown up an orphan. All she knew was the friendship she had hared with her Kiri-chan. But their lives were about to change big time when they moved in with Kazuma the Shellbullet.
1. Chapter 1: Another Kind of Entertainment

**I'm writing this for me and my best friend. In the story, I go as June and she goes as Kiriko. Hope you love this, buddy! And to my readers, yaaaay, a Scryed fanfiction. I can't wait to try this out. I've been into this anime for forever, so I'm very proud of myself that I actually managed to start something~ :P**

**Chapter 1**

**Another Kind of City Entertainment**

"Grab onto my hand!" A brown haired, blue eyed girl called as she got on her knees at the edge of a concrete ledge, the top of a tall wall. She thrust her hand downwards, reaching into the air. "Come on, just a little farther…"

After a few scrapes and near falls, another hand appeared over the edge and the two locked. The girl on the ledge pulled back with all her might and the two landed in a heap on the concrete.

The one with the long brown hair, who had ended up at the bottom of the pile, was laughing. She was wearing a scuffed up black shirt, ragged jeans and shoes that looked like they'd just gotten into a catfight with each other. Her face was streaked with dirt and sweat. But she was laughing.

"What?" Asked the other, prying herself off of her friend, Kiriko.

"That was amazing, June!"

"Yeah…" June sat back, brushing the dirt off of her arms. "If consider near death experiences amazing, it was freaking fantastic."

"Oh don't be like that." Kiriko turned and looked over the edge of the wall. A wind blew over them, throwing her hair flying in all directions around her face. She grinned and put her hands into the air. "Isn't it just beautiful!"

Overlooking the wall was a wonderland of buildings big and small, windows shining, lights bright. The ground was blanketed in a layer of asphalt and even the very sky seemed brighter surrounding the Inner than it did on the other side of the wall. While life seemed kind and beautiful before the two girls, behind them was a veritable wasteland. Jagged mountain peaks arose in places that looked like they weren't supposed to be anything but flat, and the place had the general look of a poor, un-watered garden whose owner had gone away for a long time.

That was the Lost Ground. Japan's failed accidental experiment.

It was the girls' home.

June sat down beside Kiriko and leant on her, smiling slyly. "Yeah. I guess it's pretty awesome. You ready to screw it up?"

Kiriko shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, we could just hang out for a while. Pretend we're Inners. Just this once! Have some fun." Her eyes were bright. They almost seemed to reflect the lights of the city, as the sun was going down and bathing the sky in orange.

"That might be a change…" June said, thinking it over and fiddling with her fingers thoughtfully. "Imagine that. Inner clothes. Inner food. Inner books…"

"Don't get carried away." Kiriko rolled her eyes. She prepared to jump down. "Let's go!" She grabbed June's hand and the two hopped over the wall. They'd blended in as soon as they'd landed on a sidewalk inside the city and continued on down the calm, quiet street as if they had been there their entire lives.

* * *

June slumped in her chair, fiddling with the spaghetti on her fork. They were in a large restaurant. It would have been a beautiful sight, actually. The walls were a deep red. Candles were everywhere. Outside, the sky was growing dark. The only thing ruining this perfect night was the fact that at the opposite side of the table, her best friend was in a life or death staring contest with a little rich boy sitting at the nearest table.

"Ignore him." I said, glaring at her, twitching slightly.

"No." Kiriko threw her spoon down. "He won't stop staring at me! Look at him! Look at his snobby little face!"

"You were the one who wanted to 'become one with the Inners'".

"Let me punch him!" Whispered the hotheaded brunette over the table. "Just this once!"

"Kiri-chan, _everyone_ is starting to stare at you!"

Kiri was about to offer an angry comeback when one of the waiters approached our table. He looked uncomfortable. _Oh great_, June thought. _So much for finishing a quiet meal._

"Um…excuse me, ladies. Would you mind keeping your conversation a little lower? Some of the other customers are beginning to grow agitated."

"What the hell does that mean?" Kiri demanded. "Are you saying we aren't aloud to talk in here? This isn't a library. It's a restaurant. Haven't you ever heard of tableside conversation?"  
"Well…um…yes, however…" The menus in his hands were shaking. Poor guy. He was just a teenager, no older than us, and he looked like he was one of those spineless city brats that had no self esteem, too. He didn't stand a chance against Kiriko.

June was about to suggest they just leave when a child's scream erupted from behind them. "Alter power!"

The girls had no idea what was going on for just a second, but June looked down and saw that the candle on their table was no longer flaming its regular orange. It was flaming a pure white fire. Oh, yeah, and the candle? There was a huge chunk out of it.

Kiriko grinned twistedly. She put a hand in the air in front of her face and snapped her fingers. Suddenly each finger tip hosted a small white flame exactly like the candle. "What were you saying, guy?" She asked. Her face was now aglow in the light of her flames.

The child behind us yelled. "Stupid alters! Get out of our city! Nobody wants you!"

His mother cried out. "James! Stop that!"

But apparently she hadn't been able to stop anything, because a few seconds later, a plate soared through the air. It had been aimed at Kiriko but instead it hit June in the back of the head, cracking in half before hitting the restaurant floor.

June winced and grabbed the back of her head. Kiri hesitated and turned to look. "June?"

Her friend had a look of sudden hate dawn on her face. She turned around slowly. The kid's words were ringing in her ears. "Go home, you stupid native alters! We hate you! Just get out of here and go home!"

June's hand twitched as she tried to restrain herself. She turned around slowly and walked over to the table where the kid was standing. His mother stood next to the seat behind him. She gasped when June started to come over, and grabbed her son's hand, holding him back. However, instead of something going up in flames, like was happening over where Kiri was, June simply approached the table and got down to eye-level with the kid. "You know, _James_," she said his name mockingly, a look of torment filling her eyes, "it's really not nice to say things like that about other human beings, who, for all you know, might be a lot better people than you ever were."

The boy stepped back, tripping over his chair. June grinned at the shocked look on his face, mouth agape, and eyes wide.

Then at the last moment, June heard Kiri call out from across the rom. "Watch out behind you!" June dodged just in time to miss a pair of hands reaching for her wrists. She spun around, getting the HOLD member who had attacked her in the side with her elbow.

Another came at her from the other side, however, and this time they didn't miss. June cried out as she felt restraints on her arms.

Kiriko turned, surprised by the sudden attack on her friend. She stuck her hand out in June's direction, causing a few of the restaurant employees who were surrounding her to back away, afraid of what the young alter user might do. Fire erupted from each of her fingertips. "Omniscient Pyre!" She commanded, and just like that, a circle of pure white flames danced around June's feet. They blasted back the two HOLD officers, dissolving the restraints on June's arms. "How dare you touch my friend!" Kiri yelled. Her eyes flared, and almost on que, a streak of red ran through the flames.

They were reacting to her emotions.

Red was the color of rage that seeped into her thoughts as they did her fire.

Kiri stopped, though, as soon as the HOLD soldiers were down. The red faded out of white and a mix of blues and oranges showed through. She was tired.

Using her alter too a lot out of her. Not only that, but Kiriko had been using it a lot lately. Not just as a toy to cook her food or light her way through the house at night. No, her alter was capable of being much more than that. And she had been taking advantage of that lately. Kiri and June were bored, and they solved that boredom by causing trouble like this, stirring up their peaceful lives with a little mischief. Now overuse had made her tired. She held onto the table to keep herself from stumbling.

June struggled to her feet. She rushed to Kiri's side, holding her steady. "We need to ditch this place!" She said assertively.

Kiriko nodded. "It's not safe." She eyed June nervously, as though she was more worried about her friend than herself. "Where do we—"

Kiri saw June's eyes go wide as she reached up and decked someone over Kiriko's head.

A HOLD officer hit the floor a second or two later. "I may not be an alter user, but that doesn't mean I can't fight." She turned to narrow her eyes at the shocked customers of the restaurant. She wasn't just saying it to Kiri as much as she was saying it to everyone there. "And if you guys want to cause a problem here, that's okay with me. But if I were you, I'd consider just letting us leave peacefully…while you can."  
When the frightened crowd said nothing, Kiri stepped in. "Well I _am_ an alter user. SO what? Does that make me lower than you guys? More primitive somehow?" Kiriko's voice echoed, filling the room with a taunting lull.

For a few merciful moments, the room was silent. But then came a cry of fear. A man in the back yelled. "They're gonna kill us!"

And then all hell broke loose.

HOLD officers everywhere. They swarmed like angry bees from a kicked hive. Many of the Inners in the restaurant ran. Others, self righteous civilians thinking they'd be a help, tried to pitch in. In the end, it didn't matter who they were. Kiri and June were outnumbered by a lot. June fought with her fists, landing a kick in a HOLD soldier's gut now and then. All around Kiriko, there was fire. "Mad inferno!" She spoke, and like obedient minions, her sparks followed. Every candle in the room was lit in white, and then they exploded. Fire was uncontrollable. The room was an oven, cooking everything inside in a thick later of alter power.

"This thing's gonna kill us unless we kill it first!" One man screamed. He ran at Kiri with a knife in his hand.

Kiriko's eyes went wide. A spark of yellow zigzagged through the flames over her head but they were soon replaced by a deep red. One that she was having increasing trouble controlling.

June collapsed as another of the men bashed her in the back of the head.

"Don't you see? She's a monster!" Yelled the ring leader. "A monster!"

Kiriko's body was bathed in red.

Then the sound of a car engine overran the man's crazed screams. A large, although very run-down, buggy crashed through the restaurant window. The buggy drove over overturned chairs and around tables until it was between Kiri and the man.

"For God's sake, she's only a sixteen year old girl!" The driver countered him. His hands gripped the wheel with a white knuckled grip, but he was staring the man down all the same. "Alter power or not!"

He turned and reached a hand out toward Kiri, forming a comforting smile. "Now cool down, Kiri." He paused. "Literally."

She wasn't cooling down, though. She just continued to bur, the red growing redder.

"Kimishima!" Out of the crowd, June appeared. She was grabbing her throbbing head, but she was okay. But when she saw Kiriko, her face fell to concern. "Kiri…"

"Can you…" Kimishima asked. He looked around cautiously. "We need out of here. Now."

The crowd was temporarily shocked into silence, but not for long.

June nodded. She turned to Kiri. "Come on, Kiri-chan. We need to go." She moved her hand toward Kiriko's flaming wrist and almost like magic, the red turned to blue, then purple. Concern. Recognition. Friendship.

The flames wouldn't hurt June.

In an instant, they disappeared. Kiri half stumbled, half collapsed into June's arms. June helped her into the back seat with her and braced herself as Kimishima hit the gas, yelling, "Go! Go! Go!"


	2. Chapter 2: Did Someone Say Shellbullet?

**Chapter 2**

**Did Someone Say Shellbullet?**

"Well that was exhausting." June sat back in the back seat of Kimishima's buggy. She ran a hand through her curly brown hair. "I didn't even get to finish my spaghetti."

They were out of the city. Thankfully. They'd left behind them a cloud of disaster, but they were out. June was shocked that they'd made it that far. She was sure that the boy wasn't kidding, and any minute, she expected to look over her shoulder and see a HOLY caravan driving after them.

But the HOLY caravan never came.

Which was nice. Nice to have things work out for a change.

For the first ten or fifteen minutes of the drive, Kimishima turned around a lot and asked June how she was, and how Kiri was, and if they were both okay. And then he switched to "What the hell were you thinking, fighting with Inners like that?" which June knew was bound to happen because that was just the kind of person Kimishima was.

June glanced nervously over at her friend, Kiriko, who had collapsed on the seat next to her and was now sound asleep, looking exhausted. "Kiri-chan is fine. Although I think it took a lot out of her, today."

"No shit!" Kimishima slammed his hand into the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve a little. He glanced back at her again with scanning brown eyes. "It got out of control. Again."

June felt her eyebrows lower in annoyance. She understood when Kimishima got overprotective like this. But it made her feel uncomfortable. It was as though he was trying to say there was something wrong with Kiri. As though her alter were sick, and needed cough medicine. June knew that no amount of cough medicine would heal Kiri's temper. It was just a part of her, and she needed to control it. It wasn't something that could be fixed by anyone but Kiriko herself.

"Look…we're both fine." June said. Her foot tapped quickly. A nervous habit. She glanced out the window, at the now blackening sky. It was littered with stars. Constellations she had known for as long as she could remember. Comforting, in a way. "The important thing is that they didn't follow us, right? So stop flipping out, Kimi-chan."

"I'm not gonna stop flipping out." He said, though he wasn't yelling anymore. June smiled. At least her talking had done something.

"Just drop us off at our place. I'll take care of Kiri." She turned to pull a stray strand of wavy hair away from the sleeping girl's face. "She'll be fine." June eyed her with concern, and then looked down at the cross that hung from Kiri's neck. It was solid white. Her alter. Or rather, it's dormant form. It was a little tame compared to Miss Flamey Flamey, but it was a constant reminder of who Kiriko was, and she loved the thing.

It was a symbol of the spiritual energy that made up alter power. And it hung around her neck like a shield, foreshadowing the Omniscient Pyre that was sure to follow.

June sighed. "_We'll_ be fine."

"No." Kimishima said, staring into the distance as the buggy kicked up dust behind them.

"What?" June frowned, turning to her old friend. His back was turned to her, and he wasn't turning around anymore, so she couldn't see the look on his face. But the way his shoulders hunched up, making ripples in his dusty brown jacket told her he wasn't happy.

"I'm not taking you home." He said.

"And why not?"

"I'm taking you to my friend's house."  
"You're _friend_?" June laughed. "You have friends?"

She heard the rubber steering wheel squeak as his grip on it tightened angrily. "You're hilarious, June."

She laughed louder. "I'm sorry, I assumed you just locked yourself up in your house at night and played video games!" She was exhausted and felt more like falling asleep than anything else, but somehow, this felt like the right time to be making cracks at Kimishima. They were friends, after all. And that was what friends were for. Pissing each other off.

"I don't—" He hesitated, and then went quiet.

June smirked. "It's what you do. But it's okay. Tell me about this special friend of yours. Tell me, is he imaginary, or can I see him? Is he in the car right now?"

She knew Kimishima knew a lot of different people all around the Lost Ground. It was his job to know people. He was a handler for alter users. He got them jobs all over the place, and made sure they got paid. Really, he was doing the Lost Ground a service. At least this way, alter users like Kiriko didn't starve to death.

It was just, June didn't know any of the people Kimishima knew. She had been friends with him as long as she'd been friends with Kiri, and Kimishima and Kiri had been close since the dawn of time. Half the time, to her Kimishima was just the cool guy she happened to know who was kind of fun and kind of crazy, and the other half of the time, he was mysterious and guarded.

Kimishima only came to visit Kiri and June at their house every once in a while. And many days, June wondered what he did with the rest of his time and why it was so dang important.

"His name is Kazuma." Kimishima said. "I've known him a long time. He's a pretty good guy."

"As long as you've known Kiri-chan?"

"No. But I trust him."

"And why are you taking us there?"

"I want you to stay with him for a while."

June bolted forward in her seat, grabbing onto the seat in front of her and trying to make eye contact with Kimishima. "What? No way am I staying in some strange guy's house! I want to go home! H-o-m-e! Home has a bed I recognize and good I know I like and sweet, sweet television."

But Kimishima just stared ahead of him at the road. Finally, he broke into a tired laugh and shook his head. "Something inside of me tells me it's a bad idea to put you two in the same room with that hothead. But I don't have a choice. I can't trust you two not to cause trouble and right now, I need to know you're both safe." He said, his short brown hair slicked back by the wind.

June cocked an eyebrow at her friend.

"He's the only guy I trust enough to let you guys stay with. So be nice, okay? And don't piss him off. He's an alter user."

"Of course he is." She sat back in the seat and sighed noisily. "They all are."

* * *

Kazuma the Shellbullet.

Somehow June had expected a big, threatening man, or a creepy guy in a cloak, or some dude with a gigantic gun attached to his back. But when Kimishima unlocked the front door of the little, dilapidated house that he drove us to, he pointed to a teenaged boy who was sprawled out on what looked like a barber chair in the middle of a messy living room and said, "That's him."

He seemed disappointed, too. "Go wake him up for me, won't you?" He asked, holding a sleeping Kiriko in his arms.

I stepped over to this Kazuma guy and nudged him in the side. "Hey. Shellbullet. Wakey, wakey~"

He tossed and turned in his sleep as though June was waking him from a bad dream, then bolted out of his chair in a sudden panic, golden eyes wide and darting back and forth. "Kanami?!" He asked, grabbing at the nearest thing to him in the darkness of the room, which was June.

June staggered back in shock. "Kana-_who_?"

"Kazuma." Kimishima said from behind them in a calm voice. "It's just me."

For a moment, everything in June's sight was shrouded in darkness, but when the man named Kazuma let go of her and leant forward, breathing hard, she got a good look at him for the first time. The boy had strands of ruddy brown hair that curled slightly at the ends, hanging in his eyes. He was pretty tall, too. His legs hung way over the ends of where his feet were supposed to go on the chair when you got a haircut. He looked like he was in a state of surprise. "Y-You're not…" He said, staring at June, still half asleep, perhaps.

"Did you say Kanami?" Asked Kimishima, arms folded.

"N-No, I was just…" His face flushed slightly, then his eyes narrowed, glaring. "Who is that supposed to be, anyway?"

Kimishima looked down at the girl in his arms. She rested with her hand on his chest, arms wrapped slightly around his waist.

"I didn't know you had a girl, Kimishima." Kazuma scoffed.

"S-She's not my girl!"

"S-She's not his girl!"

Kimishima and June both said at the same time. This made Kazuma chuckle to himself. "Whatever…"

In the eerie light of nighttime streaming through the windows of Kazuma's living room, teenager or not, he almost looked like a super villain. June couldn't help it. Something about this guy threw her off big time.

"So wait…you're Kazuma the Shellbullet?" She asked, eyeing him skeptically.

He grinned and nodded. "You better remember it."

"Where's the shell? Where are your bullets?"

He looked around, hushing June with a finger to his lips. "Quiet. I can't show you _here_."

June didn't look convinced. "Why not?"

"Because…I just can't, okay?"

Why did he look so protective all of a sudden?

"You sent us to live with this counterfeit?" June turned and stared at an amused looking Kimishima. She wasn't buying this guy's story at all. Kimishima had stuck them with him for a reason and she wanted to know why.

"_I am not a counterfeit_!" Kazuma yelled. June spun back around, her curiosity peaked by his little outburst. But instead of continuing to yell at her, he covered his mouth, looking regretful. "Oh shit…"

Tiny footsteps followed, trailing down the hall. A small yawn sounded, followed by the voice of a young girl. "K-Kaza-kun? Were you having a bad dream again?"

Kazuma jumped in his seat. His face went red. June smirked. "Kaza-kun?"

He leapt up just as the girl was coming out of the hallway. She wore a pink nightshirt that reached down to her shins, almost hiding a pair of white shorts. She had even longer hair, tied back in a swirling ponytail made of light brown locks. Holding her hair was a beautiful pink bow that matched her shirt. Bangs hung past her forehead. She lifted a hand to her face in a vain attempt to rub the sleep out of her green eyes. Kazuma put his hand on the girl's arm, smiling awkwardly. His previous condescending demeanor seemed to melt away, replaced by one of concern and harmlessness. "Kanami, go back to bed. I'm just taking care of something, okay?"

"Who are all these people?" The little girl, Kanami, wrapped her hand around Kazuma's, causing him to go stiff. When she began to wake up a little, however, her eyes widened. "Kimishima! W-What happened to that girl?" She rushed past Kazuma and stopped in front of Kimishima, who was still cradling Kiriko in his arms.

June hesitated. "That's…"

Kanami's face was pale with worry. Briefly, June wondered why a stranger would wear such a terrified look for someone they'd never even met. Kanami didn't even know who Kiriko was. And yet as soon as she realized something was wrong, Kiri was her top priority. The only one besides Kiri that June had ever seen do something like that for another person was Kimishima.

"Is she okay? What happened to her? Oh, Kimishima, tell me!" She said, tugging on the man's sleeve.

"This is Kiriko. She's a very good friend of mine. Both of them are. But she's a little hurt." Kimishima answered calmly, which seemed to soothe the child. The man had that kind of effect on people. His very words seemed to bridge the gap between people, get rid of tensions, lift spirits. Public relations was his job, so he was bound to be good at it after all these years. June almost thought that at this point, she should be immune. But it was only after he began to explain their situation that she realized how frazzled she really was. She was exhausted, and the idea of having a place to sleep after all the excitement, even at a stranger's place, was tempting. "I need a place for these two to stay. You wouldn't mind giving them a couple of beds for a while, keep an eye on them for me…right, Kazuma?"

"Of course!" Kanami said.

Kazuma looked a little embarrassed by the girl's immediate response, but he nodded. "Yeah. Sure."

Kimishima frowned. "June? Where'd you go?" He turned to see her standing slightly behind him, arms folded, a guarded look on her face. He laughed. "Introduce yourself. You already met Kazuma. And this is Kanami. Kanami, this is my friend, June."

June stepped forward. "It's nice to meet you." She said. She was a little nervous at first, but Kanami had a warm, inviting aura about her. A little like Kimishima. She dispelled tensions. Made June feel a little more at ease. "Thank you for letting us stay here. It really is a—" She tried to finish her sentence but was interrupted by a yawn.

Kanami laughed, taking June's hands in hers. "I'll show you the guest room."

A few minutes later, Kimishima set down Kiriko in a bed in a small room in the back of the house. He pulled the covers over her, readjusting a strand of hair that was in her eyes before turning to go. "K-Kimi…shima…" He heard, just as he was leaving. He hesitated and looked back. But Kiri was fast asleep. He just chuckled.

"See ya, Kiri. I'll be back to check on you two soon, as always…"


	3. Chapter 3: Dancing Blue

**Chapter 3**

Dancing Blue

Kiriko woke the next morning to find a little girl standing over her, changing the wet cloth that was on her forehead. She blinked, shaking her head slightly as the image came into view. "H-Hello…?" The girl jumped. She lifted her hands, eyes wide.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!"

She had long brown hair and wore an orange jacket. Her large green eyes regarded Kiri with wonderment. But all Kiri could think was, who was this kid? She couldn't be older than 9 or 10. And one thing she was sure of was she'd never met her before. She sat up, holding her head and staring confusedly at the girl. She took the cloth off her forehead and held it in her hand awkwardly. "Who are you?"

"My…my name is Kanami." The little girl took Kiri's hands in hers, causing her to go stiff, her eyes wide at the touch. "How are you feeling? Anything hurt? Are you hungry?"

Kiri didn't understand. "Sorry…where am I?" She asked, running a hand through the hair.

"Oh, sorry, I bet you're really confused right now." The girl took the cloth from her and put it in a bowl of warm water on a table next to the bed she was on. "You were asleep when you got here last night."

Slowly, memory began to return to Kiriko. What had been the last thing she remembered seeing? What was the last thing she'd heard?

It came back in flashes. She saw fire. Her eyes widened. A man. A knife. Her hand went stiff, gripping the bed. _What did I do?_ She thought frantically. _What the hell did I do?_

And then June came into the room. She was smiling at first. "Kanami, how's Kirik—" She saw Kiri and hesitated at the look of fear and confusion that was clearly plastered on her face, embedded into her cold blue eyes. "Kiri-chan? What's wrong?"  
Not thinking, Kiri stood up, gripping June's shirt, her mouth tight, and her eyes unblinking. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" She could hear her heart pumping in her chest, so loud she was sure the rest of the people in the room could hear it as well.

"N-No. No! Kiriko, calm down, everything's fine…what are you…" Recognition dawned in June's eyes. "Oh, no, Kiri. It's not what you think."

"All I know is the last thing I remember is seeing red in my flames and a man with a knife." Kiri's voice was shaking.

She felt June's hands on her shoulders, pushing her down towards the bed and forcing her to sit. "Nothing happened. I promise."

The blue eyed girl just sat and looked at the ground.

June grabbed her by her chin, forcing her to look at her. "Hey. Trust me." She paused for a few seconds, choosing the right words for what she was going to say next. "We got into a little fight with some of the Inners in the restaurant we were in."  
"Right. I remember that."

"And that's it."

"What about the guy with the knife?"  
"You didn't touch him. Kimishima showed up. And we left."  
"Promise?" Kiri was shaking slightly.

"I promise."

Kiriko breathed softly, calming. She knew what must have happened next. June had done what she always did. She'd snapped Kiri out of it. And that had been the end of things. No need to worry. June was right. She needed to trust her friend. Trust that she was there to make sure nothing got out of control.

And that was that.

* * *

June explained everything that had happened to Kiri after she had fallen asleep. Sitting at the kitchen table that morning in Kanami's and Kazuma's house, she was curious to see just who this "Kazuma the Shellbullet" was. She was just running her expectations of him through her head when a bed-headed teenager padded into the room in a red, long sleeved shirt and black pants. He ran fingers through his hair, as though they were combs, and blinked sluggishly, collapsing in a chair at the table across from her.

Kiri looked up from the bowl of cereal in front of her, surprised. She was about to say something like "Hello" or "Good morning", but there was no room for that as the boy yawned sleepily, grabbed the cereal box and filled his bowl. Kiri was just about to add some milk to her own bowl when he snatched the milk jug, not noticing her hand, and put the final touches on his cereal. He dug in. He was stuffing his face when Kiri cocked her eyebrow at him and said, "Are you going to introduce yourself, mystery boy?"

He looked up finally. His mouth was full of Frosty Flakes when he attempted a snotty reply. "Eventually, yeah." However, instead of getting his point across, his words just came out all wishy washy and Kiri only just barely understood what he was trying to say at all.

She laughed. "Try chewing before you talk. It comes out better that way."

He gulped, glaring at her. "I knew that."

"You ready to tell me your name?" Kiri took another bite of cereal, clearly having fun. She eyed the boy curiously as he sneered at her.

"I'm Kazuma. And you're that…Kiro…Kiru…"

"_You're_ Kazuma?" She was almost dumbfounded. This was the legendary Shellbullet? This was the famous alter user who couldn't lose a match? He was just a stupid kid. He didn't even have table manners. Since when did that translate to a work ethic? Since when did that translate to good fighting skills?

"What? You got a problem with my name?"

"No, it's just, I thought you'd be a lot more impressive than this." She said, chuckling a little. "My name's Kiriko by the way."

Kazuma looked furious. His eye twitched and he gritted his teeth. His eyes were locked onto hers. But what actually shocked her was when she heard a small screeching noise and looked down to see that the spoon in Kazuma's hand was bending under the pressure of his thumb. "K-Kazuma!" Her eyes went wide.

At that moment, June and Kanami walked in. Kazuma scrambled to bend the spoon back into place before Kanami saw.

_What an interesting guy…_ Kiri couldn't help thinking as she spooned cereal into her mouth.

June saw the way Kiri and Kazuma were staring each other down as she came to sit down at the table with Kanami. "Uh…Kiri? What's up? I see you met Kazuma."

Kanami seemed to see it, too. She smiled sweetly at Kazuma. "Good morning, Kaza-kun! Did you try the pastries I made? I used a new recipe."

Kazuma, whose foot was tapping impatiently, glanced at her for a second, hardly noticing the girl. "Yeah." He was still in a deathly staring contest with the blue eyed devil across the table from him. _This girl is crazy. She almost reminds me of myself._ "It was okay."

Kanami seemed to deflate at this. "Oh…"

Kazuma stood up and was about to leave, having finished his cereal, when Kiri spoke up. "Hey! That was mean! Kanami was trying to be nice, and you just turn her away? That's not right! Complement her cooking!"

The messy haired teenager stopped in his tracks. "What did you just say?" He asked, not turning around.

"You heard me." She said in a mocking voice. "Mr. Kazuma the Shellb—"

Kazuma turned in the blink of an eye and reached all the way over the table, shoving his hand over Kiriko's mouth and silencing her mid-sentence. Kiri gasped in shock. Kanami went silent. She'd never seen Kazuma act this way. What was wrong?

June stood up. "Hey! You two just need to cal—"

"We need to talk." He turned to June. "All three of us."

Kazuma took both Kiriko and June outside the house, only seeming to calm down and loose the uptight glare on his face when the door was shut and he was sure that Kanami couldn't hear them. Kiri was fuming. She definitely hadn't liked being shut up by Kazuma. And June was a little on edge. She didn't like not understanding what was going on. Maybe she'd been right to be suspicious of Kazuma after all.

"Look. You two need to know something." He said, slicking his hair back by running a few fingers through it. It just fell back into place, but he didn't seem to be focusing on that at the moment anyway.

"You _bet_ we need to know something. What happened back there?" Kiriko demanded, her face only a couple of feet from Kazuma's, her hands in fists.

"I'm just going to say this simply. It'll be easier that way." He took a deep breath, sighing. "Kanami doesn't know I'm an alter user."

"_She what_?! You mean you didn't tell her? Kazuma!" Kiri yelled.

"So you can't go around saying stuff like 'Kazuma the Shellbullet' in the house when she's home, okay? And I can't show you guys my alter unless we're somewhere else." He said that last part looking at June.

"Do you have any idea what kind of danger you're putting her in, not letting her know?!" Kiri grabbed a hold of Kazuma's sleeve. "She's just a little girl!"

Kazuma looked down on Kiri. His eyes turned dark, and the condescending sneer left his lips entirely, replaced by a menacing glare. His hair hung in his eyes, casting shadows over his face. For the first time since she'd met him, he looked terrifying. "Don't you think I know that? Telling her would only put her in more danger. That's why she can't know who I am. As long as she's ignorant, she's safe. _We're_ safe."

"That's bullsh—"

There was a chuckle from behind them. June was leaning against the house next to Kazuma. She sighed, letting her head hang forward slightly. "Poor girl. She really looks up to you, you know?" She said, eyeing Kazuma. When she looked at him, her eyes locked directly onto his. She always looked people in the eyes when she spoke. It only gave her words that much more effect. It made Kazuma go stiff. "I wonder what she'd say if she knew what you really were. I sincerely hope that you're not the violent, always-ready-to-fight alter user that I hear you are, Kazuma, because that girl in there is a gentle soul and if it turned out you were a killer, something tells me it would break that child's heart."

Kazuma went silent.

Kiri's grip on Kazuma's sleeve disintegrated. "J-June…"

There was about a minute's worth of time when the world halted in its tracks and June thought that the three of them might be at a standstill. She knew she'd said words that Kazuma hadn't wanted to hear, and Kiri had already been pretty angry. But she didn't know Kazuma well enough to know what he'd do next.

It looked like they still had a lot to learn about him, though, because while her best guess might have been that he would loose his temper, after all she'd seen of the guy, and after having heard Kimishima call him hotheaded—he just stood up and walked away.

Didn't even stop to say "I can't believe this." or "I'm outta here."

He just left. And then he was gone.

* * *

June and Kiriko continued staying at Kanami's and Kazuma's house. He hadn't really spoken at all about that first day since. In fact, he'd just magically reappeared later that night as if nothing had happened at all.

He didn't make a big deal about it, so neither did either of the girls.

Life was pretty calm for the next several days. Kiri and June spent their days helping Kanami around the house and exploring the surrounding town, which was a small farming village full of housewives a lot older than Kanami but just as friendly. It wasn't long, though, before Kiri started to get thoroughly bored. Kimishima hadn't returned yet and she was starting to wonder just how long he expected them to stay there. It wasn't like she disliked the place, she just wanted something to do. Kazuma was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to that town. He seemed constantly shrouded in mystery to Kiriko. She knew he was an alter user, but she'd never seen his power. And he was constantly disappearing, coming back late in the night when nobody else but Kiri was awake. She never said anything when she heard him sneak back into the house, only to collapse on his usual barber chair. But she knew something big was up.

They'd been in the town for about a week when Kanami came into the room, carrying a bucket with a wet towel and a scrubber in her hand. "Well, I'm going down to the farm to work." She said, smiling and wiping her bangs out of her face with her free hand.

Kiriko looked up from her puddle of boredom, groaning. "Let me come!"  
Kanami looked a little surprised. "What? No, you're a guest in our house. I couldn't ask you to—"

"Please, Kanami-chan. I'm dying with nothing to do. I'll do anything if it gets me out of the house."

She laughed her child's laugh. "Well, if you really want to, I guess I don't mind. It would sure be a help. We could always use an extra set of hands."

Kiri turned excitedly to her friend. "Come with me, June! Let's get some fresh air! I know you're just screaming to get out and experience nature~"

June looked sarcastically up at her friend from a large book. "Actually, no. But I'm not assuming you're going to give me an option so I'll make it easy for both of us and agree to go." She smirked.

Kazuma threw the door open just as June was finishing her sentence. "Hey Kanami! Got any of those pastries left in the cupboard?" He said, wiping sweat off his forehead. He looked a little exhausted, as if he'd just run a few laps in the sun. His hair was pushed back, wet. His shirt hung loose on his muscular arms. He glared daggers at Kiriko, still talking to Kanami. "Because your pastries are _so_ amazing, I just had to ask."

"Um…" Kanami hesitated. She glanced down at the bucket in her hands. "Actually, we were all about to go down to the farm. Do you want to come, Kaza-kun?"

"Yeah, _Kaza-kun_," Kiri said cockily, grinning ear to ear. "Why don't you come with us?"

Kazuma groaned. "But I thought I helped out just last week."

"You left early again!" Kanami scolded him. She put her free hand on her hip in a way that made her look just slightly more threatening than her small feminine frame suggested. "Like you always do."

"Oh, Kazuma, don't tell me you can't handle the work load of a young girl." Kiri laughed.

Kazuma gritted his teeth. "What did you say?"  
"How about you get off your—" She glanced at Kanami and decided to rephrase. "How about you come with us, just to get out of the house, oh pretty please, _Kaza-kun_?"

Kazuma's left eye twitched at the name. It made Kiri's life.

"Fine."

* * *

That afternoon, as the sun was beginning to set, Kiriko Kaname sat on the edge of a river in the forest just beyond the small town. In the distance, she could see the rooftops of the farm. And behind her, a small patch of forest gave way to more of the barren wasteland that was the Lost Ground.

Working had been fun. It had given her a chance to stretch her legs and live a little, which she felt she'd been missing since getting to this place. No, it wasn't as though she didn't like settling down a little and catching her breath. Life with Kanami and Kazuma was fun. But she still liked adventure in her life.

She almost envied Kazuma, who got to leave whenever he want, going off to who knew where and coming back at all hours of the night.

Poor Kanami. Whether that boy knew it or not, she worried about Kazuma every minute he was gone.

Kazuma was a useless teenager. Working with him had been a blast, though. They'd been fixing up one of the barn roofs, nailing tiles down. He kept trying to ditch, so when he went to get some water, she put some glue on the handle of his hammer just to see what would happen. And when he came back a few minutes later and started hammering nails, he stopped dead in his tracks when he realized he couldn't put his hammer down.

"Um…Kiri?"

"Yes?" Kiri asked, paying attention to her own work.

"What the hell is this?" He held his hammer up. His hand was outstretched, but there stuck the hammer in the middle of his palm, not detaching from his skin.

Kiri frowned. "That's strange. Isn't gravity just wacky like that?"

Of course, he'd flipped out trying to pull the hammer off. He'd probably hurt his poor palm doing so, too. Poor boy. And of course, she wasn't the least bit sorry.

Eventually, in the chaos, she'd slipped out on her own. And that was how she'd found herself on the side of this little river in the afternoon sun, the clouds bathed in orange above her.

She'd just needed some time to herself. It wasn't that she didn't like Kazuma. But for some reason she couldn't stop thinking about the restaurant fiasco that had started this whole business. She didn't like thinking that she'd lost control of her flames so easily. It scared her. It had been over a year since something remotely like that had happened and, well, she'd almost started to believed that she'd finally learned to control these damned flames.

_ I guess that was a lie too…_

She snapped her fingers and in the palm of her hand, a small white flame ignited in a ball of matching light. The flames danced and swirled within the circle of her fingers. She watched sadly as the flames turned from white to blue. A deep, navy blue that, as always, matched her emotions perfectly.

These darn flames just didn't lie.

And she couldn't lie to them.

She couldn't say she was happy, or just a little tired, or bored, even. Not when the flames sitting patiently in the center of her hand danced a dark blue dance.

Sadness.

She gasped as, out of nowhere, an inhuman red and orange hand appeared from behind her. "Aahh!" Kiri stumbled back, but before her flames extinguished in surprise, the hand lowered over hers. It was huge. Many times larger than her own. The center was red, its fingers a deep orange hue, and each one tipped in what could almost be considered a claw. It looked almost robotic. The hand enclosed over her own, and as her hand closed, she saw her flames do something she'd never seen them do before.

Separate and apart from her own will, apart from anything she had control over, not of her own will and certainly not by accident…they went out.

It wasn't painful. In fact, her flames didn't even flicker the lightest hint of red that would have clearly signaled outside control or some type of uncalled for manipulation.

She looked up in shock to see that she was gazing into the eyes of the useless teenager she'd been thinking of just a few moments ago. "K-Kazuma?"

He didn't say anything. He just stared at her.

How had he done that? How had he just put out her flames as if it wasn't even a problem?

She looked down at his arm. Her eyes widened, dilating. Alter power. So this was it.

Kazuma the Shellbullet.

"Omniscient Pyre, huh?" Kazuma smirked condescendingly. "I had a feeling you were the fiery type."


End file.
